Medieval Style Crossbow, Rubber Operated

[JoergS]

I have made many slingshot crossbows, but all have been long and narrow - more like a modern rifle.

But this time I wanted to make a slingshot crossbow that resembles a medieval style model! Inspired by the related project here in this forum, but of course I made mine in a single day - "quick and dirty".

Of course with rubber instead of a steel prod, and shooting balls instead of bolts. But regarding the look and lock/trigger mechanics, I wanted to follow the ancient design.

It came out very good!



Here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fllqaJax88

It shoots great, and as you can see in the slomos, the bands never touch anything - they will last a long time.

The weapon is really accurate.

Jörg

[Will H]

That thing is AWESOME!! Nice video! Makes me wanna try something like that...

[Dane]

Jorg, that is a fantastic weapon you have built. I love the stuff you create and post here. I am flattered a bit that my own little project may have inspired this.

Great craftsmanship, too....only one day! Thanks for showing this to us, and the video was very informative.

Dane

[JoergS]

Dane, yes, you inspired me very much. I did not want to hijack your wonderful thread (I subscribed), otherwise I would have presented it there.

[Dane]

Thank you, Joerg. I would not have felt it was hijacking if you posted in that thread, but your work does deserve it's own thread.

Dane

[JoergS]

Ordered some speargun rubber.

Got 16, 18 and 20 mm thickness, a meter each.

The stuff is beastly! I decided to test the "weakest" one first. 6,5mm walls, compared to 3mm walls on the already tough Thera Tube silver. Here you see TB black, silver and the 16mm speargun rubber in comparison.




Did a bandset for the medieval crossbow. The center hole is too small and the rubber is too tough for the knot in hole method, so I attached the rubber to the outside. Works fine.




Draw weight of this exceeds the 40 kg my scales can measure. I estimate it at 45 kg (about 100 lbs).

I reinforced the nut and tickler with steel because I did not trust the wood on wood method for this off the scale power. It holds fine.

It is surprisingly easy to cock the crossbow, the stirrup method rocks. Ancient weapon makers clearly knew their stuff.

It shoots absolutely frighteningly fast. My most powerful sling-x-bow for sure.

But there is room for improvement - see the 18 and 20 mm beasts in comparison... stay tuned.



Jörg

[JoergS]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLPjIhqI9Ww

[Cameroo]

I love you projects and videos man.  Really cool stuff   Keep it coming!

[Dane]

Bravo! I love that weapon. Your videos are always excellent, too. Thanks for sharing your work with us.

Dane

[skyarrow]

Man that is a powerfull slingshot crossbow I love it did you manage to crono any shots  I'd love to see the fps I bet I'd work great for squirrles

[jpitts]

This is just awesome. I love it.

[stickbender]

     Joerg, that is just absolutely awesome!   Could you show the trigger lock?  I like how you made it so that the ball is kept in place until you are ready to fire.  And the fact that you can hold it up or down, and the ball is held in place.That is something I wanted to make when I was in high school, but never go around to doing.  Just made a regular crossbow,from a kit.  That thing really puts that ball out there!  Your work is, as always excellent.  Thanks for showing that!

                                                                               Wayne